All I took for Granted was a Lie
by Cheddar the Cheese
Summary: In the summer after his Fourth year, Draco Malfoy ran away. He went west to America, to California, to Sunnydale. But what happens when the boy-who-lived becomes something darker? redone! abandoned
1. I once knew all the answers

Title: All I took for Granted was a Lie  
  
By: Cheddar  
  
Summery: In the summer after his fifth year, Draco Malfoy ran away. He went west to America, to California, to Sunnydale. But what happens when the boy-who-lived becomes something darker? It's up to the Slayer and her friends (both new and old) to save the wizarding world   
  
Rating: PG/PG-13 I'm sure about later though  
  
Spoilers: Book four for HP and Season five for Buffy. Well, basically all you need to know is that Buffy died and Willow brought her back. I may bring up some other episodes from after season five but they won't be a huge plot point.So some of you might have already seen this but I'm scrapping most of what I had and starting over so if you read the first chapter, know that I've changed a few things. Also, this is for my friend Sarah... hope you feel better. You better be at school tomarrow!  
  
"I once knew all the answers  
  
I stood on certain ground  
  
A picture of true happiness  
  
Confidence so effortless  
  
No brighter could be found  
  
Oh, no  
  
I never asked the questions  
  
That trouble me today  
  
I knew all there was to know  
  
Love worn lightly, put on a show  
  
My conquests on display  
  
And who would have thought that  
  
confidence could die?  
  
Not me, Not me  
  
That all I took for granted was a lie"  
  
~From the musical Aida by Elton John and Time Rice  
  
***  
  
"Cedric Diggory was a fool," my father told me. I nodded but said nothing because it was what was expected of me. "Got in the way. Do you understand that, Draco?" Another nod from me. "He wasn't killed because he was a muggle-lover. He was killed because he was in the way of what our Master needed. Do you get that, Draco?" I nodded again. With a wave of his hand he dismissed me telling me to wash up for dinner; to which I would be the only one in attendance.  
  
Back in my room, his words haunted me. Up until that time, my father and I both had prided ourselves on how very alike we were. But as I sat back and actually listened to the words the older 'me' had said, something bothered me. Something really bothered me.  
  
I had nothing against Diggory. Hell, he was the only person who ever managed to beat Golden Boy Potter. Even if it was a mistake. He was only a few years older than me, a pure blood. I didn't want to end up like that, but deep down inside I knew I would. Draco Malfoy, dead because he.. He what? What would I do? I knew better than to get in the way. I had to get out. Suddenly looking around at the dark green and black room I'd grown up in, I felt stifled. Something akin to fear and loathing crawled over every inch of my skin. I felt dirty. Almost as if I'd bathed in the blood of Cedric himself and now he mocked me for it. Looking down at myself I saw only the black midnight of my robes. Tearing into my closet I found more of the same. The best of black robes that money could buy. All of them a variation on a theme. Black. Black like the absence of light as the clods of dirt cover the grave. Breathing was becoming an issue.   
  
Grabbing some of the muggle clothes at the back of my closet I kept for reasons unfathomable, I shoved them onto my bed. Spying my school trunk in the corner, I raced over. Inside lay my books and other things that I wouldn't need until the next school year. In a flash I had it over turned and was dragging it over to my bed. Throwing my clothes in I glanced around. Snatching some of the only sentimental things I had, I closed the lid of my trunk. Slipping silently out the door, I made my way down to the front entry way.  
  
I needed money but I didn't have any. Father made sure of that. But I knew where he kept it. It was in the top right draw in his desk in the study. Only problem was that he was in the room right next to it with the door wide open.  
  
All right. So I know you're asking why didn't I wait until that night. Well, the truth was, I couldn't stand to be in the manor any longer. So stashing my trunk in a darkened corner I slipped into the study. I could hear my father in the next room talking through the Floo. Good. He'd be distracted.   
  
I had the draw open and the money in my hand when I heard him end his conversation. I shoved the coins into my pocket and cringed at the noise it made. I head rather than saw my father freeze up at the sound. "I'll get back to you," he said to the flames.  
  
I dove out the door into the entrance way just as he came back in the room. Looking around with a critical eye he spied the draw open slightly. Growling he called for the house elf who promptly appeared. Stuttering the elf asked, "Is the room not cleaned to Master Malfoy's pleasing?" He was a wimp and a simpering fool but I'd never loved another elf as I did that moment. It gave me a chance to slip out the door. I don't know what happened to the elf I'm sorry to say. But I'm sure it wasn't pleasant.  
  
I made my way into London and from there to the airport. Father kept muggle money in that draw and I thanked my lucky stars that that was what I'd grabbed. I was able to book a flight to New York City where I spent three weeks before deciding to head further west. I must have taken a thousand buses. Or that's how it felt at any rate. When I finally ran out of money, I was on a bus headed for Sunnydale California. With a smile on my face I made plans in my head about my future.  
  
I'd get a nice job and meet a nice girl. We'd grow up and get married and spend the rest of our lives in the sleepy little town. Nothing to do with magic or evil wizards taking over the world.   
  
In Sunnydale, I wandered the streets in the early hours of dawn. The bus had gotten in late last night and after stowing my trunk at the office of the station with a nice old man who probably couldn't read his own name, I set off to explore the town. And now as the sun rose of the single story Town Hall, I couldn't help but feel a chill of unease at the sight of so many cemeteries. What was this place. For the first time, I was almost regretting my hasty departure from the Manor.  
  
As the sun came up and the day wore on, I began to feel the urge to find some food. But in order to do that, I needed money. So that meant I had to find a job. Horror of horrors. If only my father could see me now. To my right was a Starbucks and to my left, a magic shop with the oh-so clever name of, "The Magic Box." Grinning, I ignored the coffee shop and went into the magic store. A bell tinkled someplace deeper in the dim room and the scent of Burberrys and rat's fur made me feel right at home.  
  
"Hello!" said a very cherry blond from behind the counter. "How my I take your money today?" I snorted. I couldn't help it. It just kind of came out.   
  
"Actually I was looking for a job," I told her.  
  
"Oh well we're not hiring. But feel free to spend some money here!"   
  
I think she would have continued on that track if she hadn't be interrupted by a male British voice. "Anya," it said sternly.  
  
"Sorry," she muttered.  
  
"Actually, son, if you're looking for a job I might be able to find you one," he said slowly. He looked at me as if he could see something underneath me skin. "Do you know anything about magic?"  
  
I didn't know what to say. The girl, Anya, was glaring daggers at me. I wasn't impressed. "A little," I admitted to the man.   
  
He smiled. "I need some one to help keep stock and do odd jobs around the place. We're... err, out a lot and we'd need some one keep the place up for us." He took off his glasses and began to wash them until I thought they might break. I fear for those lenses sometimes.  
  
"I could do that," I told him. I couldn't believe how easy this was. But I wasn't going to press my luck.  
  
The British man smiled. "I'm Rupert Giles but every one around here just calls me Giles. This is Anya."  
  
"I'm Draco," I don't know why I didn't lie about my name. I wasn't going lie if I could help it. Not this time around. "Draco Malfoy."  
  
Something sparked in Giles' eyes at the sound of my name but I ignored it. If he wasn't going to say anything then I wasn't going to press the issue. "When can you start?" he asked.  
  
I shrugged. "Now I guess. I haven't got anything better to do."  
  
"Where do you live?" Giles asked.  
  
Now I was stuck. What was I supposed to say? "Umm, well you see, I just got to town and-"  
  
"-And you ran away from home and haven't got a place yet," he finished for me. I nodded. " I thought as much. You can stay here. There's an apartment in the attic you can have. I'll take the rent out of your pay. How's that?" I smiled.   
  
"That works," I told him smoothly but I couldn't keep the glee off my face.   
  
"And I want you to go to school. You're what, fifteen?" I was fourteen but I wouldn't correct him on that. Fifteen worked just as well for me. So much for not lying. "Good, You'll be in Dawn's class."  
  
And so I got my start working at the Magic Box. I lived in this tiny little apartment above the shop and went to Sunnydale High. Giles made no secret of what it was that really went on in the Magic shop. He never came right out and said it but I picked up on what was happening quickly. I'm not stupid you know.   
  
Life was a steady rhythm for me and as time went on I found myself helping out the so-called Scooby gang more and more. It wasn't long before I noticed that I could do magic here without detection which suited all of us just fine. Willow, Tara, and I had a lot we could teach each other.   
  
I was fifteen (Really fifteen. I'd told them my real age a while ago) when Dawn and I started to go out. I admit that I'd had a crush on her since the first moment saw her but was too afraid of Buffy to act on it. Thank the gods Dawn asked me first!  
  
And so the years ticked by. I was in my first year of college, the popular guy in school, going out with a perfect girl, and all and all, a very happy guy. When the whispers of things in the east going very wrong reached us, life couldn't have been better for me. But there was an increase in demon actives in Sunnydale and then the opening of another Hellmouth in Scotland some where. From what Giles and I could tell it was someplace in the forbidden forest. Our own Hellmouth was drying up the supernatural left to answer the call of the new Mouth of Hell. But in one day, over a game of cards, the perfect life I had created for myself came to a crashing halt.  
  
tbc....? 


	2. Into the woods

***  
  
Chapter Two: Into the woods  
  
See chapter one for notes and disclaimers.  
  
***  
  
"Into the woods,  
  
It's always when  
  
You think at last  
  
You're through, and then  
  
Into the woods you go again  
  
To take another journey.  
  
Into the woods,  
  
The weather's clear,  
  
We've been before,  
  
We've naught to fear...  
  
Into the woods, away from here-"  
  
From "Into the Woods" by Stephan Sondheim and James Lapine.  
  
***  
  
I can't lie and say that those years from age fourteen to age seventeen were easy. In the beginning it meant a lot of time by myself in my tiny apartment above the shop. I went to school and then went to work in the afternoons. I stayed up late doing homework I didn't care about because it seemed to impress Dawn. I'll admit that I had a crush on her from the start. There was just something about her that made me want to smile and that was something that'd been lacking from my life until that point.  
  
And then things began to change. I grew up, little by little, and I was slowly being accepted into the fold. More and more I'd go out with the group to 'work the mojo' as Buffy said, when they went off the face the latest "big bad." And for the record, I found their manner of speaking to be hilarious. There were times when I'd look around and see us all doing the good fight and I'd wonder when did I become one of those damned Golden-Boy-Potter-White-Hats? But I was, and part of me liked it.   
  
Things began to get really good when Dawn asked me out. Yes, she asked me out. I was too afraid of her sister to do anything about my crush. But for the record, Dawn asked me out first. I can't say when it developed into more but it did. One night as I lay on my bed in the dark, it hit me. I loved her. Not just loved but love. It was so new to me. I'd never been in love before and part of me wanted to run like I had from my father when I found out how he felt about Diggory's death. But I didn't run. I had o place to go and I'd be leaving everything behind.  
  
That was pretty much my life for those years. I gave no thought to going back to the Wizarding world. Or even back to England. Ever. I was happy. I had love and had friends and an almost family. Why would anyone want to give that up? But life is tricky like that. The fact that I turned into the magic shop instead of Starbucks that day when I'd first arrived in Sunnydale had given me this new life, but it also offered up the mess I was about to get into.  
  
Also for the record, my new friends knew all about my past. They had never once condemned me for it but had told me that they had each done far worse than be the school bully and so long as I was over that we were cool. And so we were.   
  
The day that really set things in motion, we were all sitting around. It was late winter and school was half way over. Not much was happening. We'd defeated some great maser vampire a week ago and things were quiet now.   
  
Spike stood in the corner watching Buffy. It was so clear how much he loved her but no one would say anything. I picked that one up real fast. Buffy herself was playing cards with Willow, Xander, and Dawn while Tara and Giles were going through some dusty old books that I personally could not stand. Anya was talking to Xander as he played cards about the mind blowing sex they'd had the night before. That woman was seriously strange. We never did get along.  
  
Finally Giles interrupted the chattering blonde. "Buffy, have you given any thought to what we talked about the other day?" We all looked up to ask what he was talking about.  
  
"Oh!" she said as if she had completely forgotten about it. I'll bet she had. "Um, no. England right?"  
  
Giles sighed and we all stifled smiles. "Yes, Buffy." Now we all knew what he was talking about. That Hellmouth that was opening in Scotland. Other than the one big bad from last week, things were getting boring.  
  
"Maybe we should go. I mean, it's boring here," Dawn said as she placed another card down on the table. "Uno!"  
  
"Darn it!" Xander exclaimed trying to peer at the card in her hand.  
  
"Xander, honey are you paying attention to me? I'm talking here!"  
  
"Yes, dear." That made Anya smile.  
  
Giles cleared his throat and was reaching for his glasses when Dawn and I looked at each other and bean to laugh. (She had the best laugh.) A few weeks ago she had brought it up to him about his glasses and now when ever he did it we both began to laugh at him. It was driving him crazy. "Well?" he prompted.  
  
Buffy looked u from her cards. "We haven't got that kind of money, Giles. You know that."  
  
"I do," he replied quickly making us all wonder how much he really did have stashed way. "Don't worry about that."  
  
The slayer sighed. "It's just that I like it here. It's quiet. I was kind of hoping we could keep the quiet for a while."  
  
"Buffy," said Giles in a tone that said he was trying to do the right thing but wasn't sure how. "I know you want it like it is but you're wasting your talents here. You could be doing so much more. Buffy, we need you. They need you. The whole world needs you. You like the quiet but every one else likes not living in hell."  
  
"I hate it when you get all noble on me."  
  
"So we're going?" Dawn asked. She was so excited.  
  
"Looks that way," her sister told her. "Who's in?"  
  
"I'm going."  
  
"I'm game."  
  
"Me too."  
  
"Don't forget me."  
  
"Why not? It's not like I've got a better way to spend an unlife."  
  
They all looked around too see who hadn't answered. I tried not to look them in the eye. "I don't know, I told them. I was kind of trying to avoid the whole 'home' thing."  
  
"But, Dray," Dawn said softly. "It's not home. Not really. This will always be home."  
  
"Yeah," Xander agreed. "Home is supposed to be the place you look forward to returning to. Home is where you make it."  
  
"Wow, Xand. That was really deep."  
  
"Thanks, Buffy."  
  
"So?" Spike asked me. "How 'bout it? You gonna leave me alone with all this sentimental sap, kid?"  
  
"I've had enough sap to last Potter a year. He's worse than this lot any day."  
  
Giles snorted. "From what I've heard of the kid, he's also got a few less problems."  
  
"Just one very persistent one," I said.  
  
"Well?" Dawn asked impatiently. "Come with us?"  
  
I shrugged. "It's not like we're gonna be near anyone I knew is it? Just a few demons on a Hellmouth."  
  
"That's the spirit!" Willow chirped.  
  
tbc....? 


	3. Is this home?

***  
  
Chapter Three: Is this home?  
  
See chapter one for disclaimers and notes.  
  
***  
  
"What I'd give to return  
  
To the life that I knew lately  
  
But I know that I can't  
  
All my problems going back  
  
Is this home?   
  
Am I here for a day or forever?…  
  
Oh, but then   
  
As my life has been altered once  
  
It can change again"  
  
~Beauty and the Beast  
  
***  
  
The plane ride was much longer this time around. Dawn sat next to me and chattered on and on about how she'd always wanted to see England. Ever since she met Spike and then me. I was pretending I wasn't scared out of my mind. I tried thinking about how Spike was faring down below. He was packed in a large crate labeled fragile. I didn't know which to laugh at first; the fragile label or the fact that he was in my old school trunk.  
  
Giles had found a house for us in a small town on the edge of the forest and as we pulled into the drive, I watched Dawn's mouth falling open. "This place is huge! It's gotta be what? Six? Seven bedrooms?"  
  
"Eight," Giles muttered. He seemed almost embarrassed. "I know it's a bit excusive but it's secluded from the town and very near the forest. From what I can figure, the actual Hellmouth is just to the north a bit."  
  
"Swell," said Xander. "It'll be just like high school only without the homework and such."  
  
I have to say, the house wasn't nearly as big as the Manor. I wondered briefly what every one would have to say about my former home as I took in the ancient looking house. It was built of tan stone with sweeping grounds that looked like they needed more than a little work. In fact, the whole place was falling apart from what I could see.   
  
"Do you think the inside's as bad as the outside?" Dawn asked me.  
  
"I don't know."  
  
"Well, you can do the mojo thing and fix it u can't you?"  
  
I hadn't really thought about it but now I was beginning to wonder. "I don't know," I admitted. "Technically, I'm still and under aged wizard and now that we're not half way around the world, I don't want to chance it until I'm of age."  
  
Dawn nodded. "Come on. :Let's go claim our rooms."  
  
The inside was a bit better. I took a room in the attic. I suspected that at one point it had been part of the servants' quarters but I liked it. It was small and I could climb out the window onto a bit of flat rooftop that had been converted into a kind of balcony. The rails sagged but I figured that between me and Xander, we could fix it up in no time.   
  
Dawn chose a room just below me because her sister refused to let us share a floor. "It's not that I don't trust you," she told us. "I just don't know if I trust you both." I ended up having the whole top floor to myself which suited me fine. It reminded me of my apartment over the magic shop at home. Spike was living in the basement.  
  
We drifted into the kitchen not long after we got there. "So," Willow said. "What now? I need to get some things from town."  
  
"We need food."  
  
"I want to go exploring the forest," Buffy said. "Spike and I should do a patrol just around here tonight."  
  
"I'm game," said the Vampire.   
  
"Can Draco and I go out and see what's here before it gets dark?"  
  
"You can go," I told her. "I'm tired."  
  
She humphed at me.  
  
"I agree with Draco," Tara said. "I didn't get any sleep on the plane."  
  
"Ok," Buffy said: The leader, as always. "Dawn, you can go out if you take some one with you and get back before dark. That gives you about an hour. Willow and Giles can go into town. If you guys need anything, write it down. The rest of you are welcome to come patrolling tonight. It should be slow anyways." And that was the end of that. We all drifted off and I climbed up to my new room.  
  
I lay down on the antique mattress and lay in the growing dark. My mind was too full of my life before and how very close it was. Just on the other side of all those trees. I wondered how deep the forest was before you came to Hogwarts and how far north or south of us it was. I thought about how I still would have been in school there whereas now, I was done with high school in my new life.   
  
And that was another thing. Me. I'd changed so much. I wasn't even sure that I could go back. I was just too different. I hardly looked the same and I'd grown up in a way that most people never do. Death was such a constant part of our lives that… I felt almost as if I have lived two very separate lives. In the first, I was my father's heir: Draco Hayden Lucius Malfoy, Harry Potter's enemy. But now? Now I was my own person. I stood with people instead of behind or against them. I was just Draco.  
  
I wondered what they all thought had happened to me. I knew that there must have been some search attempts but they had obviously failed. I was still here after all and not with them. But what did they say about me? Was I dead to them? I hoped I was. It was easier that way.  
  
In the morning, the sunlight cut across the room in such a way that for a moment I could have sworn that it had wiped any and all color from the world. I squinted at the clock and groaned. It was five in the morning. I could hear people moving below me and I stumbled out of the bed where I promptly fell on my face. Graceful, I told myself. Very slick.  
  
As soon I walked into the kitchen, Dawn began to giggle. "Have a nice fall?"  
  
I glared at her but didn't respond.  
  
"We should have a meeting, Willow said as she breezed into the room. "We got a lot done last night."  
  
"Where's Anya and Xander?"   
  
"Still sleeping."  
  
"Do you honestly think that those two are asleep?"  
  
"After yesterday? Yes. I do."  
  
It took them a while, but by six, everyone was fed, clothed, and sitting around the living room. Well, I suppose at one time it had been a parlor but now it held only one dusty couch and we had to sit on the floor as the dusty wafted over us from the rugs all around us.   
  
"So," Buffy began. "Spike and I found a few vamps last night. It felt like Sunnydale back in high school. We dusted about seven or eight. And we didn't even go that far."  
  
"Tara and me went towards town. There's a couple'a houses along the road but only one of them looked like people were living there. Could be some nests in the empty ones."  
  
"There are a few shops in town we should look at today. There's a furniture store that looked reasonable. They all seemed very interested in what we were doing here. The If any one asks, Buffy and Dawn's grandmother died leaving them this place. It's called Birchwood House by the way."  
  
The conference broke up soon after that and we all began to get dressed. I pulled on a pair of faded jeans from a few years ago and an old Linkin Park t-shirt. I felt very under dressed for England. I was just lad it was still warm enough to not need a jacket.  
  
We went into town which seemed to me, to be just like Hogsmead only without the magical element to it There were a few pubs and general shops. The furniture store that Giles had mentioned seemed to be entirely to big and out of place here among the tiny shops filed to bursting with antiques.  
  
We each were given a budget by Giles and told to pick something out for ourselves. I, having decided that I rather liked the bed I had now, bought a new mattress and pillows. I got a new dresser as well but only because my room didn't seem to have one.  
  
The man who helped us with our purchases seemed very keen on finding out more about us. Who we were, where we came from, did he know Dawn's relatives? No? What a shame. I'm sure the gossip mongers down at the pub hadn't had such an interesting evening out in quite a while.  
  
  
  
***  
  
It didn't take long before we had all settled into a comfortable pattern at Birchwood House. We slept in in the mornings before we got up and some one would cook breakfast. We rotated the fixing of meals. The afternoons were spent researching and fixing up the house and in the evenings, we all went out on patrol. Not in a group, mind you, but as smaller groups. I normally ended up with Spike. We were a good team and it felt good to have some one to talk to who wasn't a girl.. Or Xander. There were times when I really didn't get that guy.  
  
It was one such night when Spike and I were out patrolling the forest just to the south of the house. Buffy, Dawn, and Xander were sweeping the north while Willow, Tara, and Giles had opted to stay home and do a bit more research on the mythical and magical history of the area. We hadn't turned up much so far.  
  
"Come on," Spike said.   
  
"Where are we going?"  
  
"We never did check out those empty houses and I'm kinda bored with this. We haven't seen a vamp all night."  
  
"Or we could not. I'm not in the mood to take on a nest with just us. Backup would be nice."  
  
Spike shrugged. "Tomorrow then. And we'll take the slayer if it'll make the little wizard feel better."  
  
"Shut up."  
  
"Shhh…" Spike coked his head to one side. "You hear that?"  
  
"No," I said. "What was it?"  
  
"Come on," he said motioning for me to follow him. "I think out night might have just gotten a bit more interesting. Got any weapons on you?"  
  
I had a crossbow and a knife. "Sure," I said. "You?"  
  
He smirked. "Sword."  
  
"Show off."  
  
We made our way deeper into the forest. I strained my ears to hear what it was that the vampire had heard but I didn't seem to be gifted like that. The wood grew darker around us and memories of my first year at Hogwarts filtered unbidden into my head. Potter and that damned dog and that THING sucking the unicorn. I hoped that none of those memories would be revisited in real life any time soon.  
  
POP.  
  
It was very faint and I almost missed it. No, there it was again. Like some one making popcorn not far away. I would know that sound anywhere. Apperation. Spike smiled. "Recon it's anything we can fight?"  
  
"No," I told him flatly. "I think it's wizards. We'll be dead before you can draw the sword."  
  
"We'll just watch then."  
  
We hunched low to the ground and found a fallen tree which would do well to hide us. We could hear everything in stark clarity but in the dark, all I could see were dim shapes. I hoped that the vampire could see more.  
  
"You're late," I heard a cold voice say. "Do you have the girl?"  
  
The reply didn't come from any Death Eater I'd ever heard before. In fact, the owner of the voice shocked me so badly that I almost missed what was said: "Yes, my Lord. I was… inescapably detained but I've got her now."  
  
tbc....? 


	4. Through the fear

All I Took For Granted Was A Lie  
  
***  
  
Chapter Four: Through the fear  
  
See chapter one for disclaimers and notes.  
  
***  
  
"You go into the woods  
  
Where nothing's clear  
  
Where witches, wolves,  
  
And ghosts appear.  
  
Into the woods   
  
And through the fear,  
  
You have to take the journey.  
  
~ Into the woods by: Stephan Sondheim  
  
***  
  
I stumbled backwards and Spike glared at me but none of the Death Eaters heard me. My mind was reeling. Since when had Weasley been a Dark supporter? I thought he was one Potter's little groupies. Things couldn't have changed that much. What was next? The old coot Dumbledore telling Granger to get out because she was a mudblood? Spike was ignoring me and his eyes were fixed on the meeting before him. He had a calculating look in his eyes. I didn't like the looks of it.  
  
Crawling back over to him, I settled back into see what I could hear. "You won't get two feet for they try and kill you," I hissed.  
  
"I'm already dead. And besides. I won't need to go that far. They've left the girl by the edge of the clearing. We'll sneak around. I'll distract." They really had left her by the edge of the woods where we could easily grab her from behind. I couldn't see who it was because her captors had let her fall over but I knew those robes. Hogwarts. I had money on it being Granger.   
  
Spike pulled me backwards so he could talk more freely. "You go around. I'll wait for a signal from you before I go in and then you get her back to the house as fast as you can. Got it?"  
  
"What about you? Once they figure out you're a vampire, it won't take them more than two seconds to kill you."  
  
"I don't think it'll be a problem. Plus, I have a very manly looking sword. They have twigs. Got it? Go."  
  
I quickly made my way over to where the girl was lying. Her guards were very large but didn't appear too smart. I was betting on Crabbe and Goyle. Didn't matter which ones. I caught Spike's eye across the clearing and the vampire smirked.  
  
He stepped with purpose. The Death Eaters all looked up at him and the Dark Lord hissed. "Who are you and why are you here?" he snarled.  
  
"I heard you were the big bad round here," Spike was saying. "My old buddy Angelus said you were worth getting in touch with if I was back here and wanting some fun."  
  
The guards were definitely distracted. I reached out and pulled the girl back. She began to wiggle against her bonds but I clamped a hand over her mouth. "if you want them to look over here," I hissed at her as low as I could. "Then keep moving." The only indication that she'd heard me came in that she stopped moving completely. She froze. Damn, I thought, she recognized my voice.  
  
Pushing the thoughts aside I pulled her back into the underbrush only to come face to face with none other than the Weasel's own sister. Her eyes went impossibly wide as she saw me and she opened her mouth to speak but no sound came. I didn't know if it was a spell or fear but if she was quiet, we might just get out of there alive. I pulled the knife from its sheath in my jacket and noted with amusement how I was wrong about her eyes. They could get wider. I cut the bonds at her wrists and ankles and pulled her hand to show her to follow me. She didn't move. "Come on," I whispered. "I swear I won't hurt you. I know a place you can go. It's got a fireplace that might be on the Floo."  
  
She looked back at the clearing where Spike was now in his demon face strutting around looking remarkably like a chicken. "You and him…"  
  
"Later."  
  
Then we began to run. I could hear the girl behind me as I tried to crash silently through the growth. She wasn't any quieter. I was really beginning to get tired by the time I could see the house up head. I turned back and saw that my companion was lagging considerably. "Come on," I said. "It's just there. Hurry." Her breathing was far too labored and I feared we might not make it back before the Death Eaters noticed she was missing.  
  
A scream cut through the night air. Never mind. They'd noticed. I grabbed her hand and we dove as quickly as we could towards the house. Buffy and every one else was suddenly in the back yard looking at us in alarm. I guess it was later than I thought if they were all already home.  
  
Then suddenly, we were at the door and it was being slammed behind us. The girl was being laid out over on the couch unconscious with Willow and Tara fretting over her while Buffy demanded to know where Spike was. Dawn hugged me. "What happened?"  
  
"Death Eater," I said. "Dark Wizards. In the forest. Spike was the distraction. The girl goes to Hogwarts."  
  
"Damn it!" Buffy shouted. "You two know better than to get into something like this by yourselves! What were you thinking?"  
  
"That if we didn't act then, she'd be dead by now! He's going to be fine Buffy!" I shouted back. "It's Spike, remember?"  
  
"He's right," Dawn said softly. I kissed her softly. She could always calm me down like that. Buffy sighed.  
  
"He better be."  
  
"Dray," Tara called. "Come here. We need to know a bit more about her before we go working the magics on her."  
  
I walked over to them and looked down on the girl I'd always ignored at school. She was tiny with long red hair. It was a wonder I didn't recognize it in the forest. "Gina or something. No. Ginny. Ginny Weasley. She's got like a million older brothers. Real poor family. She's sixteen I think."  
  
"What happened?" Giles asked in watcher mode. So I took a seat on another couch and recounted the tale. I had hardly finished telling the tale hen we heard a pounding on the door.   
  
"Open the bloody door!" Spike's voice came through. Buffy threw it open and launched herself into his arms.  
  
"Damn you," she whispered. "I was so worried."  
  
He gave her a quick hug back before turning to me. "Did you get her?"  
  
"In there," I told him pointing. He nodded. "They called off the search saying that she can't have gotten far. They thought I'd brought a friend to kill her. I'm deeply ashamed of the state of evil today. They didn't hardly try. Made a good attempt to kill me though. It was fun," he smirked. Buffy hit him.  
  
"Well," Giles interrupted. Some one need to keep watch. Dawn can take the first watch and Draco'll take the morning watch if she's not awake by then."  
  
"That's not a good idea," I told him. "We hate each other."  
  
'Then you'd better hope she wakes up. Dawn, get him up at three. Draco, get some sleep. Same for all of you. I have a feeling that we just got ourselves into something we should have stayed out of."  
  
TBC...? 


	5. How do you leave the past behind?

***  
  
Chapter Five: How do you leave the past behind?  
  
See chapter one for disclaimers.  
  
Author's note: Thank you all so much or reviewing this! It made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside! A couple of people expressed concerns that Draco was out of character but you have to keep in mind that he's been living with Buffy et al for a few years. It's called character development. Don't worry, we'll still see nastybastard!Draco in here. Just keep reading! Also, I am looking for a beta reader so if any one want to volunteer, e-mail me.  
  
***  
  
"How do you leave the past behind  
  
When it keeps finding ways to get to your heart  
  
It reaches way down deep and tears you inside out  
  
'Til you're torn apart...  
  
How can you connect in an age   
  
Where strangers, landlords, lovers  
  
Your own blood cells betray?"  
  
~ RENT by Jonathan Larson  
  
***  
  
"Draco!… Draco." I picked up a pillow and threw it as hard as I could. I heard a giggle and groaned.   
  
"Go 'way, Dawnie. I don' wanna get up."  
  
That little giggle came again. "Come on. Rise and shine, sunny. It's your morning to cook breakfast. You're lucky Ginny woke up other wise you'd have been up a while ago." I groaned again. Ginny. The events of the night before came crashing back down on me and suddenly I felt like my old self caught in a nightmare in which I had turned into the bloody boy wonder himself.  
  
"I'll be down in a minute."  
  
She went bounding out of the room like some deranged rabbit. I pulled on my jeans from the day before and a black shirt from the closet. I barely ran my hind through my hair before I was stumbling down the stairs.  
  
Every one was sitting on tall stools around the kitchen. I glared at them as I entered. It was a little to early to be up and as cheery as they were.  
  
"Morning, Princess," Spike smirked. "Get beauty sleep then?"  
  
"No," Tara giggled. "Look at his hair."  
  
"Hey!" said my girlfriend coming to my rescue. "I like his hair like that."  
  
"Thank you," I told her. "It's nice to know some people have taste."  
  
"It's nice to know some people have combs," Xander told me. "I'll have to get you one." I rolled my eyes.  
  
"Well it's better than it was before," came a new voice. I turned around. The Weasley girl stood in the doorway with a decidedly evil look on her face. Dawn squealed and bounded over to her.  
  
"That's right!" she gushed at the younger girl. "You knew Dray from before didn't you? I bet you know all sorts of nasty little details about his life that we might like to blackmail him with."  
  
"Blackmail is such an ugly word, Dawnie," Buffy said.   
  
"Yeah. We prefer… no, blackmail works just fine."  
  
"Thanks, Willow," I said. The Wicca grinned.  
  
"Any time."  
  
Ginny was staring at us all like we had lost our minds. Her wide eyes took in everything from me to Buffy to Anya and Xander. Her eyes settled back on Buffy and a funny look came to her face. "Hey! You're her aren't you? The one who was in love with Angelus! You're the slayer!"  
  
Her outburst broke over us like a bottle in a bar fight. Buffy looked edgy. "Now where did you hear that?" she asked cautiously.  
  
"I read it," she said. "In a book when I was doing research for my project for Defense class. The professor said that you sent him to hell."  
  
The room was silent for a moment before: "Wow, Buff, and here we thought the only books about you involved you dying."  
  
"Been there," the slayer replied. "Done that."  
  
"I got a really cool tee-shirt the last time," Dawn said.  
  
"Only because you stole it out of my closet and never gave it back."  
  
"Details."  
  
Ginny looked at us like we were all completely insane. "Hey, look, I'm really thankful for the rescue and all, but maybe I should be getting back to school before…"  
  
"Before what?" I sneered. "Before Potter finds out his best friend betrayed him and handed you over to the dark lord? Or before some finds out that you were rescued by a Malfoy?"  
  
"I'd rather be rescued by Harry any day. At least I know it was because he cared about me and wasn't in it for the glory!" she spat back at me.  
  
"Oh yeah?!"  
  
But Buffy interrupted me before I could get any more out. "Stop it! Both of you. Ginny. You're going to tell us what happened, then we're going to get you back to school. Draco, you're going to make breakfast as it's your day any way then you're going to come with us to take her back. I don't care what the rest of you do but maybe someone should help Dray with the cooking."  
  
Ginny seemed impressed by the tone and walked back into the living room. Everyone but Dawn and Spike followed her out. "What?" I asked them coldly. "Not going with them?"  
  
Spike waved it off. "Naw, it's going to be one of those happy let's-all-cry-and-it'll-all-be-better things. Not in the mood."  
  
"I'm just not in the mood to listen to you banging pots and pans around. Sit down. I'll cook,"  
  
"No!" Spike and I shouted at the same time. We had bad experiences with Dawn's cooking. In the end, I made the meal with some help from Spike.   
  
We were just setting out the plates when every one trouped back in the room. Anya took one look at me and burst out laughing. "And what's so funny?" Spike asked her.  
  
"Ginny here thinks that Dray used to be one of the bad guys. Can't you just see it?  
  
Draco Malfoy: The new Big Bad!" She dissolved back into hysterics at the thought. Every one else began to smile too and pretty soon we were all laughing. I admit to forcing my laugh a bit but Ginny looked at me as though she knew everything. She also looked like she thought we were all loonier than the old bat in the divination tower.  
  
When we had all calmed down enough to speak, Buffy took a place at the table, demanded breakfast and said: "After we eat. Dray, you and I are going to take Ginny back to the school. Dawn you can come with us. The rest of you: hit the books. I want to know all there is to know about this Voldemort guy. Giles, do you have any other resources we should look into?"  
  
The watcher took his glasses off and began to clean them. Dawn giggled and he glared at her. "You need the Hogwarts library," I told the slayer. "That is, if you want the basics. You might have a few prophesies on him but most of what we've got is all demons and not so much with the magical."  
  
"Draco's right," Giles said agreeing. "But we have other thing to do today. This house is still a mess and I'd like to get my own library set up today and I'm going to need help with the shelving."  
  
Xander groaned but Buffy smiled. "Sounds like a plan to me."  
  
"I'll go with you," Dawn said. I smiled at her. I wasn't sure I wanted to go.  
  
"Good. Now about those eggs…"  
  
***  
  
We made our way in silence through the woods. Dawn gripped my hand in fright though the sun still shone down through the boughs above as we inched through the trees. Ginny showed the fear of the forest that only a Hogwarts student would. Buffy looked like a child in a candy shop. She broke out still silence with an entirely too cheerful voice. "Dawn, we should do more hunting up this way. It's neat."  
  
My girlfriend smiled. And we continued on in silence once more.  
  
It wasn't long before we could see that the trees were thinning out and the woods lightened slightly. I could hear men shouting though I could not make out the words. It almost sounded like people arranging a search party. Buffy and I exchanged a glance. "Are you sure you're ready for this? I know what it's like coming back?"  
  
I nodded. "You lot! Into the wood's wit' ya!" We heard from the vague area of in front of us. Ginny's face lit up with hope and she began to run. We took off after her.  
  
She broke through the trees just near Hagrid's hut and we could see Aurors swarming the area. "Charlie!" Ginny called. "I'm alright!" she said as she flew down the hill towards him. I could see her unshed tears glistening in the sunlight as she threw herself into his arms. "Charlie! I was Ron! I saw him. It was Ron." The man held her tightly as the rest of the wizarding police came back together. A few of them eyed us curiously but didn't pay us much mind.  
  
Finally Charlie pulled back and looked his little sister in the face. "What happened? How'd you get away? We were so worried about you. Mum's been inconsolable."  
  
Ginny looked back at us. "They rescued me. You'll never believe it. Draco Malfoy," she said. Buffy looked at me.  
  
"I'm starting to think that maybe she wasn't exaggerating when she said you were an ass. Look at his face."  
  
"Thanks, Buff."  
  
"Any time." 


End file.
